Improved foundation for buildings



naar (sara @sind damier.

ALMOND F. COOPER, OF SAN IRANCISCO,l CALIFORNIA.

Laim PafmNo.100,262,dad Ma/rch 1,'1870.

IMPROVED FOUNDATION FOR BUILDINGS.

The Schedule referred to in. these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

A To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that II, ALMOND F. COOPER, of the city and county of' San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improved Foundation for Buildings;

' and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are suicient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains t0 make and use my said invention or improvements, without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to an improved construction are usually. built a timber, upon which, or imbeddedv in it, are springs of India rubber or' other suitable material, attached in such a manner that they will project above it, and upon which I place another timber as a Stringer upon lwhich to build the house.

'lo more fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference is-had to the accompanying drawings and letters marked thereon, forming part of this specification, of which- Figure l is a plan.

Figure 2 is a side elevation.

Upon the usual brick orvstone foundation, shown in red, iig, 2, I place timbers A A,which are framed together at their ends. These timbers may be h'rmly imbedded in the foundation, or they may be merely placed upon it and'suitabl y stayed iu place. l

At suitable distances apart upon these timbers I place springs or India-rubber buffers B B, securing them in place by some suitable means. 'lhese buffers will be placed closer together or farther apart, according to the weight of the building to be erected and the necessities governing each particular case.

Upon the buiers B B, I then place another frame, C, similar to A, upon which the structure is to be built in the ordinary or usual styles of building, the

frames and buffers being as it were sandwiched between t-he foundation and the house, so as to relieve it of any jar which it may receive.

Other sprin gs might be employed inlieu of the India v rubber, and in some instances a heavy spiral spring would be of great utility, especially when used with the rubber buiers, alternating them so that they shall relieve one another. I d

The idea that houses,- in order to withstand the shocks of earthquakes and other local disturbances of the earth beneath them, must be permanently an,- chored to the ground has been proved to be entirely erroneous. What is needed is asystem of springs, s`o

arranged beneath thehouse that the motionor shock' will 'be deadened before it reaches the building, and what motion is communicated to the house will be no more than a gentle rocking, which can do no injury tothe structure.

The late earthquakes in California have indicated that the earth-wave, as it passes under strongly-built structures, raises each part consecutively, thus twisting and racking the building to such a degree as to 'rende-r some of them even dangerous to be left standing. In this case the yielding nature of the springs and buffers, when used as above specified, will cause the shock to be received gradually or in such a slight degree as to be harmless to the building.'

' Having thus described my invention,

VVhat'I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- Y ent is- Y 1 1. The flames A and C, separated by India-rubber buffers B or other .equivalent spring, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. Erecting buildings upon elastic cushions or springs to relieve them of the effects of shocks, substantially" as herein set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

Y ALMOND F. COOPER. [1.. s.] Witnesses: -J oHN L. BOONE,

Gno. H. STRONG. 

